Destruction Warlock DPS Spell Summary (Legion 7.3.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.3 Changes for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Patch 7.2 Changes for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Destruction Warlock Strengths
  • 6. Destruction Warlock Weaknesses
  • 7. Destruction Warlock Viability in the Current Patch
  • 8. Contents
  • 9. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Talent Choice for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Stat Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Basic Rotation for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. ChangeLog
• ×Spell Summary
  • 1. Destruction Warlock Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resources for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Destruction Warlock
    • 3.1. Demonic Summons
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets for Destruction Warlock
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
      • 2.1.1. Single Target
      • 2.1.2. 2-3 Targets
      • 2.1.3. Heavy Cleave/AOE
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Destruction Warlock
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression for Destruction Warlock — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Relic Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. General Optimization Advice for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Tier 2 Upgrade Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Tier 3 Upgrade Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Ability Priority List for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Important Notes for Destruction Warlock
    • 2.1. Roaring Blaze
    • 2.2. Chaos Bolt
    • 2.3. Dimensional Rift
    • 2.4. Soul Shard Generation and Consumption
    • 2.5. Wreak Havoc!
    • 2.6. Doomguard and Infernal
    • 2.7. Unending Resolve
    • 2.8. Pet Choice
    • 2.9. Cataclysm
  • 3. Core Concepts for Destruction Warlock
    • 3.1. Soul Shard Management
    • 3.2. Havoc Usage
    • 3.3. Movement Management
      • 3.3.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. Opening Sequences for Destruction Warlock
    • 4.1. With Roaring Blaze
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. Destruction Warlock Boss Advice: The Nighthold
    • 1.1. Skorpyron
      • 1.1.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.2. Chronomatic Anomaly
      • 1.2.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.3. Trilliax
      • 1.3.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.4. Spellblade Aluriel
      • 1.4.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.5. Tichondrius
      • 1.5.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.6. Star Augur Etraeus
      • 1.6.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.7. Krosus
      • 1.7.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.8. High Botanist Tel'arn
      • 1.8.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.9. Grand Magistrix Elisande
      • 1.9.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
    • 1.10. Gul'dan
      • 1.10.1. Talents, Trinkets, and Legendaries
  • 2. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Stat Priority for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.1. Without Tier 20 4-piece bonus
    • 1.2. With Tier 20 4-piece bonus
  • 2. Statistics Explanations for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Enchants for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Consumables for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons for Destruction Warlock
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. DeathNote
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros for Destruction Warlock
    • 2.1. Havoc
    • 2.2. Cursor Rain of Fire
    • 2.3. Pet Macros
      • 2.3.1. Soulstone Mouseover
      • 2.3.2. Demonic Circle
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 21 Set Bonuses for Destruction Warlock
  • 2. Tier 20 Set Bonuses for Destruction Warlock
  • 3. Best in Slot List for Destruction Warlock
  • 4. Trinket Priority for Destruction Warlock
  • 5. Evaluating Upgrades Using Stat Weights
  • 6. Legendary Items for Destruction Warlock
    • 6.1. Single Target
    • 6.2. Two Targets
    • 6.3. Three Targets
    • 6.4. Descriptions
  • 7. Loot Competition
  • 8. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we list the spells that you will often use as a Destruction Warlock.

The other pages of our Destruction Warlock guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Deepshades, a top raider who plays in Method; you can watch his stream on Twitch and follow him on Twitter.

1. Destruction Warlock Spell Summary

If you are new to Destruction, it is recommended you read this before proceeding! In this section we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, and how they interact with important cooldowns. If you have played this spec before or have already achieved a level of comfort playing this spec in a practical environment, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

2. Main Resources for Destruction Warlock

Soul Shards are the main resource of Destruction Warlocks. Each Soul shard is made up of 10 Soul Shard Fragments. Soul Shards and Fragments are generated by your filler spells and your DoT effect, and they can be spent on an extremely powerful nuke or an AoE blanket. You can have a maximum of 5 Soul Shards (50 Soul Shard Fragments).

Mana is another primary resource of Destruction. Most of your spells cost Mana, which can be periodically restored through Life Tap. Mana is not very essential to your rotation, so long as you have enough to continue to cast spells.

3. Basic Abilities for Destruction Warlock

These abilities are available no matter what talents you chose, and form the bread and butter of this specialization.

Immolate is a damage over time spell that deals very high damage. Immolate has the highest DPET (damage per execute time) of any spell in your kit. It has a 50% chance to generate a Soul Shard Fragment when it ticks, and this chance is doubled for critical ticks. This should be kept applied at all times to targets who will live for 3 seconds or more.

Conflagrate is an instant cast spell with 2 charges. It generates 6 Soul Shard Fragments on cast, and the cooldown of the charges is reduced by Haste rating. It also reduces the cast time of Incinerate and Chaos Bolt by 30% for 10 seconds for each charge used. This should be cast on cooldown for maximum Soul Shard generation.

Chaos Bolt expends 20 Soul Shard Fragments and nukes the target for heavy damage. This damage is always a Critical Hit, and Chaos Bolt does increased damage (1% damage per 1% crit) based on your Critical Strike rating. This should be cast when you have Soul Shards available and, ideally, an active damage cooldown or proc.

Incinerate is your main filler. This should be cast when the previous 3 spells are unavailable or already active on your target. Incinerate generates 1 Soul Shard Fragment on hits and 2 Soul Shard Fragments on criticals.

Havoc is applied to a target for 10 seconds, and copies any spellcasts made to another target to the marked target as well. This should be used on cooldown if more than 1 target is present.

Rain of Fire is an AoE spell that deals damage over several seconds to all targets within the area. It costs 30 Soul Shard Fragments, and should only be cast on large groups of mobs.

3.1. Demonic Summons

Summon Imp is your default choice for a permanent pet, as its Firebolt deals increased damage if an Immolate is active on the target. If you are talented into Grimoire of Service, you should also use Grimoire: Imp as your grimoire cooldown.

Summon Doomguard and Summon Infernal are your main DPS cooldowns. They share a 3-minute cooldown. The Doomguard is your best bet on single target until you get Lord of Flames, while the Infernal pulls ahead once there are multiple targets present. If you are talented into Grimoire of Supremacy, you should use the Doomguard or Infernal (depending on whether the context is single target or AoE) as your permanent pets for all situations.

4. ChangeLog

• 12 Jun. 2017: Updated for Patch 7.2.5.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.

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